Harlan outlasts Creston in 12 innings

HARLAN — Creston pounced on Class 3A seventh-ranked Harlan early here Monday, but the Cyclones battled back for a 4-3 win over the Panthers in 12 innings in the Class 3A District 15 final.

Kyle Schmitz laid down a squeeze bunt for an RBI with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 12th inning to give Harlan the win. The Cyclones advance to Wednesday’s Substate 8 final against Carroll in Harlan.

Creston bunched together three straight hits to start the second inning, as Jaden Driskell, Cody Crawford and Kadon Hulett each singled to load the bases.

Dustin Merritt was hit by a pitch to drive in a run and then Brody Frain dropped a squeeze bunt, with everyone safe to put Creston up 2-0. Gavin Woods was also hit by a pitch to make it a 3-0 Panther lead with no outs.

After a pitching change, Harlan was able to get out of the inning thanks to a double play.

“They turned two double plays that got them out of innings,” Creston head coach Steve Birchard said. “We had a big inning going. Next inning (Chase) Shiltz leads off with a double and we get three straight outs. Next inning, Merritt gets on by an error and they turn a double play right away. After that was pretty tough sledding for us.”

Shiltz and Crawford each finished with two hits for Creston. Dillon Sears had three hits, including a double and a triple for Harlan.

Jaden Driskell made a pair of big plays for Creston on defense, throwing out two baserunners attempting to steal second base.

Hulett battled on the mound all night for the Panthers, laboring through 130-plus pitches in nine innings of work, giving up six hits with 10 strikeouts and four walks.

“Kadon did what I expected,” Birchard said. “He’s a really tough pitcher. He’s only a sophomore. I hope he chooses to keep playing baseball and keep getting better at it, because he’s got potential as a pitcher.”

Harlan got on the scoreboard in the fourth inning thanks a two-RBI single by Brett Croghan. The Cyclones added another single run in the sixth inning to force extra innings.

Shiltz relieved Hulett after he reached the maximum of 9 innings pitched. Shiltz was able to work out of jams until the 12th inning.

After issuing an intentional walk to load the bases, Schmitz put down his squeeze bunt to drive in the winning run. in a marathon game that lasted 2 hours, 47 minutes.

“A lot of pressure and the kids came through,” Birchard said. “I told them after the game, I couldn’t be more proud. I’ve been proud of them all year. They battled and got out of a couple of pickles. They (Harlan) just made the plays when they needed to.”

Harlan improved to 25-7 with the win. It was a heartbreaking loss for Creston, which ended the season with a record of 14-16. Conner Pals was the lone senior on Creston’s roster.

“I feel bad. Conner Pals is a senior and he’s just had a great year for us,” Birchard said. “His numbers are good and everything like that. You look at numbers and that doesn’t explain Conner Pals, how he worked hard for us. The other guys fed off him. Just disappointed for our kids. The effort was there and it just didn’t fall our way at the end.”

Birchard said his team played well enough to win, but Harlan made the right plays at the right time to pull out the victory.

“We said all along if we play defense and get our pitching, we can play with almost anybody. The guys believed that. They proved it. We just weren’t able to quite get it done tonight,” Birchard said.

“I’m very proud of our team and effort. Our kids didn’t disappoint tonight. The only disappointment is we didn’t quite get it done.”

Harlan 4, Creston 3 (12)

R H E

Creston 030 000 000 000 — 3 8 2

Harlan 000 201 000 001 — 4 6 1

Cr: Kadon Hulett 10K 4BB 2HBP, Chase Shiltz (10) 4K 3BB and Jaden Driskell. H: Brandon O’Neill, Josh Cheek (2), Brett Croghan (8) and Nick Tarney, Nolan Heese (10). W — Croghan. L— Shiltz. HR — none. 3B — H: Dillon Sears 1. 2B — Cr: Shiltz 1. H: Sears 1. RBI — Cr: Dustin Merritt 1, Brody Frain 1, Gavin Woods 1. H: Croghan 2, Kyle Juhl 1, Kyle Schmitz 1. Multiple hitters — Cr: Shiltz 2, Cody Crawford 2. H: Sears 3.